'Illegal in so many ways': Controversy surrounds Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard's salary maneuver
DOLTON - A south suburban politician under fire for the way she spends tax dollars has come up with a unique strategy to discourage people from running against her.
Tiffany Henyard is proposing a nearly 90% cut in her position's salary—but only if she's not filling it. It's just the latest controversy surrounding Henyard, who serves as both Thornton Township Supervisor and the Mayor of Dolton.
Thornton Township Trustee Chris Gonzalez was just sitting down at the start of the township's board meeting two weeks ago when he was handed a seven-page proposed ordinance requiring an immediate vote. Gonzalez said he had no time to read the proposed ordinance.
"And then we get into the meeting pretty quick," he said.
Leading that meeting was Supervisor Henyard, who was appointed to the position last year after the death of longtime supervisor Frank Zuccarelli. Henyard is certainly charismatic, often bringing a DJ to board meetings to help her make a point. But she's also controversial, spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to promote herself with billboards and purchasing first-class tickets for out-of-town trips. She's also used public employees and vehicles to promote her personal charity and taken Dolton police officers off the street to create a personal security detail that's resulted in thousands of hours of overtime.
Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard's taxpayer-funded billboards raise questions
Another round of controversy in Chicago’s south suburbs, again surrounding Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard.
But back to that ordinance—which passed without Gonzalez's support.
"They're like, I can't believe it. How can someone do that?" said Gonzalez.
What the ordinance does is ensure that Henyard continues to receive her $224,000 a year salary as township supervisor. But if a non-incumbent becomes supervisor—in other words, if someone challenges Henyard and beats her—the salary for that position drops to just $25,000 a year, a pay cut of nearly 90%.
Trustee Gonzalez said it's a political poison pill to scare off competition.
"(It) discourages people from running is the first thing that comes to mind," he said.
But perhaps the bigger question is—is it legal?
"No. It's so illegal in so many ways. It violates so many tenets of the law," said municipal attorney Burt Odelson, who represents Henyard's political opposition in Dolton.
Odelson said under the concept of equal protection of the law, the salaries of elected officials have to be identity-blind, which means they don't change based on the person holding the job.
"It may be the worst attempt to try to dissuade people from running that I've ever seen. And that's a long time," said Odelson.
Henyard isn't facing re-election at the township until 2025. But already potential competitors are circling despite the drastically lower salary, including Illinois State Senator Napoleon Harris. But if Henyard is re-elected, she'll continue making the $224,000, even if she seems to believe the job is worth a fraction of that.
The ordinance also lowers the salaries of other election positions in the township—but again, only if someone new wins the job. It will likely stand as a curiosity, the only elected positions with two different salaries, until someone inevitably files a lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Thornton Township declined to comment.